Tuesday, March 17, 2015

K Is For Karma

Jennifer talks about payback...

I was going to talk about kisses. I really was. But then I decided that it’s not fair to my other blogging partners who come later in the week if I consistently take the “easy ones.” J So I’m passing on it and discussing karma.

Because karma is fun! Karma is destiny or fate. You know, what goes around, comes around.

And there is nothing more satisfying to an introverted writer like me who dreams of speaking up and speaking out but often doesn’t, to give people what they deserve in the books I write.

My favorite author of all time, who I’m lucky enough to interview and have appear on my other group blog in April, used to talk about how all her villains were based, at least in part, on ex-boyfriends. And after reading that, I laughed. Now, with almost 40 books to her name, I highly doubt that each villain is a unique ex-boyfriend. Rather, I suspect her villains all have certain traits shared by them.

For me, writing gives me a chance to say everything I want to say but can’t, because I’m not brave enough. While my heroes and heroines are not perfect—way too boring—they do have the perfect comeback lines. My villains perform acts that might have happened in real life, but my heroes and heroines are able to turn the situation around, the way I wish I could have. And if the villain isn’t redeemed—that’s fun and challenging too—then he or she gets what’s coming to them in the end.


Because sometimes, the writer needs her happily ever after too!

8 comments:

  1. You're right, we can stop and think before we put words into our characters' mouths, whereas in real life we invariably think of a perfect comeback several hours later!

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  2. Karma catches up with everyone eventually. Isn't it nice that authors get to speed up the process!

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    1. In real life, karma doesn't always catch up, which is why novels can be so satisfying!

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  3. That's so funny! I named one of my heroine's exes after a really annoying ex-boyfriend of mine. I guess I wanted to vilify him for all time even if I was the only one who got the inside joke. :)

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    1. That's interesting, because I've never (consciously anyway) named any of my characters after someone I've know in real life.

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    2. I love the hidden things we put in books, Debra!

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